Group to mull three clubhouse options

By Grant Welker, gwelker@lowellsun.com

Updated:
02/04/2013 06:35:20 AM EST

CHELMSFORD -- A committee will study three options for the Chelmsford Country Club's clubhouse, including the preferred route of demolishing the building and replacing it with a prefabricated one that would cost about $500,000.

An addition to the rear of the building at the town-owned golf course was demolished in December after an inspection found serious structural deficiencies. There was little debate over whether to take down the addition but town officials have been unsure about how to move forward.

Putting up an entirely new structure is the costliest option but one that Public Works Director Gary Persichetti said is the preferred route. The town could also replace the former enclosed addition with a deck, which would cost at least $86,000 or as much as $110,000, Persichetti said.

A third option, expected to cost about $300,000, would involve rebuilding the addition similar to how it was, which would require other repairs to the structure.

The Permanent Building Committee, which reviews construction and repairs to town-owned buildings, will review the options and offer a recommendation to Town Meeting, which will ultimately decide which option to take. Selectman James Lane suggested the committee study the options instead of the Board of Selectmen, which previously voted to have the clubhouse addition removed.

"I don't know why we'd treat this any differently than we've done with other past building projects in town," he said at the board's meeting last week.

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The committee, in addition to its existing seven members, will have two non-voting members, both country club members: Gail Kruglak and Linda Lowell. It will also make a recommendation on what to do with the clubhouse for the coming season. Town officials said no long-term action could be taken before golfing season starts.

A trailer could be set up next to the clubhouse, or the clubhouse could be used for the season if the back of the building -- currently covered with tarps where the addition was removed -- were closed up and refinished. Cost estimates for those options haven't yet been determined.

Kevin Osgood, owner of Sterling Golf Management, which operates the course under a contract with the town, said the company was "willing to work any way we can to make it happen."

"If it's a trailer, we can operate out of it. Is that the ideal situation? Absolutely not," he said at Monday's meeting. A simple trailer without proper restrooms would likely hurt business but one with indoor restrooms and a place to get food would help, he said.

Without a clubhouse, the course would lose about $12,000 a year and have difficulty with marketing, Osgood previously said. Sterling Golf Management pays at least $30,000 a year to the town, and potentially more depending on revenue. The course generally makes a narrow profit, he said.

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